The huge gull-like or airplane hangar–type wings that make up the main visual impression of this museum are clearly intended to symbolize the contents, both literally and metaphorically. The curved roofs, supported by bananashaped trusses, contrast with the glazed infill and the lower red brick supporting structures, which have a more human scale along the major access road. Steven M. Goldberg of the New York office of Mitchell/Giurgola, who was the main designer, seems to have looked back to the German Expressionist designs of Erich Mendelsohn. The extruded tower on the east facade between the two hangars recall Mendelsohn's Schocken Department Store (1926) in Stuttgart. The exhibits include suspended aircraft and rockets and multiple levels of displays.